Job Description

The Opportunity  

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is seeking a detail-oriented and analytical Senior Payroll and Benefits Accountant to serve as a key financial resource for payroll and employee benefits accounting. This position is responsible for overseeing complex accounting activities, ensuring the accuracy and integrity of financial records, and supporting compliance with applicable accounting standards, tax regulations, and University policies.

The Senior Payroll and Benefits Accountant will play an important role in financial reporting, account reconciliations, audit preparation, internal controls, and the ongoing evaluation of payroll and benefits-related financial processes. Working collaboratively with Payroll Services, Human Resources, Finance, and other University stakeholders, this position will analyze financial data, investigate discrepancies, identify opportunities for process improvement, and provide recommendations that support sound financial decision-making.

The ideal candidate brings extensive accounting experience, strong technical knowledge of payroll and employee benefits, and the ability to translate complex financial information into meaningful insights. This individual will help strengthen accounting practices, improve reporting accuracy and efficiency, and maintain reliable financial processes in a deadline-driven environment while safeguarding confidential employee and financial information.

Key Responsibilities

• Payroll and Benefits Accounting: Oversee and analyze payroll and employee benefits accounting activities, ensuring transactions are accurately recorded, properly classified, and reflected in the appropriate financial accounts and reporting periods.
• Financial Reporting and Analysis: Prepare, review, and analyze financial reports, account balances, and supporting schedules related to payroll, employee benefits, and associated liabilities and expenses.
• Account Reconciliations: Lead complex reconciliations of payroll and benefits-related general ledger accounts, research discrepancies, identify root causes, and coordinate timely resolution.
• Compliance and Taxation: Support compliance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), payroll tax requirements, retirement plan regulations, healthcare benefit requirements, and applicable University policies and procedures.
• Audit Coordination: Prepare documentation and schedules for internal and external audits, respond to audit inquiries, and assist with the development and implementation of corrective actions when needed.
• Internal Controls and Risk Management: Evaluate payroll and benefits accounting controls, identify potential risks or control gaps, and recommend improvements to strengthen accuracy, accountability, and compliance.
• Process Improvement and Automation: Identify opportunities to streamline accounting workflows, improve reconciliation processes, enhance reporting tools, and implement efficiencies through technology and automation.
• Data Analysis and Reporting Tools: Develop and maintain dashboards, financial models, and reporting tools that support accurate analysis, reconciliation, forecasting, and informed decision-making.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Payroll Services, Human Resources, Finance, and other University stakeholders to resolve complex accounting issues, improve data integrity, and maintain consistent financial practices.
• Systems and Technology: Utilize relevant financial and HR systems, including Workday where applicable, to analyze transactions, validate data, support reporting, and improve accounting processes.
• Project Leadership: Lead or support accounting initiatives, system enhancements, process reviews, and other projects related to payroll and employee benefits accounting.
• Confidentiality and Documentation: Maintain the confidentiality and security of sensitive employee, payroll, benefits, and financial information while ensuring records and supporting documentation are accurate and accessible for authorized review.
• Technical Guidance and Recommendations: Provide accounting expertise, communicate findings to relevant stakeholders, and recommend practical solutions to complex financial issues and operational challenges.
  
  

About us 

For over 100 years, Embry-Riddle has been the world's leading aviation and aerospace university, educating more than 30,000 students across residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Florida, and Prescott, Arizona, as well as through a global network of Worldwide locations and online programs. With more than 165,000 alumni around the world, our impact reaches every corner of the aerospace, aviation, defense and technology industries. 

Today, our faculty, researchers and professional staff are advancing innovation across aviation, space, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, autonomous systems and next-generation engineering. Working alongside industry leaders, government agencies and innovators, they are solving real-world challenges and shaping the technologies that will define tomorrow. 

Whether you are an educator, researcher, administrator, technologist or industry professional, your work at Embry-Riddle will contribute to something bigger than a job. Join a community driven by discovery, purpose and excellence—and help shape the future of aerospace. 

• Generous Time Off: Enjoy up to 18 days of paid leave in your first year, including 3 days granted upon hire and 15 days accrued throughout the year. You'll also receive 9+ paid holidays, including the day after Thanksgiving and the week between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day. 
• Tuition Coverage: Get 100% tuition coverage for yourself for one undergraduate and one graduate degree, and discounted rates for your spouse and dependent children up to age 26. 
• Retirement Contributions: ERAU contributes 6% of your base salary to your retirement plan and offers a 4% matching contribution – with no vesting period. 
• Personal Leave: Relax with 15 days of personal leave for non-exempt employees or 18 days for exempt full-time employees in your first year.  

Qualifications

  Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's degree or an equivalent combination of education and relevant work experience.
• Area of Concentration: Accounting, finance, tax, business administration, or a related field.
• Preferred Education: Master's degree in accounting, finance, business administration, or a related discipline.
• Experience: Seven years of progressively responsible experience in accounting, payroll accounting, benefits accounting, financial reporting, auditing, finance, or a related field.

Required Skills and Knowledge:

• Advanced knowledge of payroll and benefits accounting, financial reporting, and GAAP.
• Expertise in internal controls, payroll taxation, retirement plans, healthcare benefits, and regulatory compliance.
• Experience leading or supporting internal and external audits.
• Ability to analyze complex financial data and provide strategic recommendations.
• Strong project management, process improvement, and problem-solving skills.
• Workday experience strongly preferred, including Payroll, Benefits, and Financials modules.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including pivot tables, complex formulas, data analysis, and financial modeling.
• Experience developing dashboards, reporting tools, and automated reconciliation processes.
• Strong communication, organizational, and cross-functional leadership skills.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality, manage competing priorities, and work independently in a deadline-driven environment.

To submit your application for this opportunity, please visit the Embry-Riddle Career Site and search for requisition number R312308. Please attach all relevant materials to your application when you apply online. Complete submissions include: 

• Cover letter 
• Resume 
• Contact information for at least three professional references (please note that references may be contacted as part of the interview/screening process) 

Current Embry-Riddle employees: Please apply directly through the ERAU Employee Hub Central application within Workday. 

Embry-Riddle is committed to fostering a workplace where all individuals are valued and respected. We strive to ensure that all faculty, staff, and students are treated fairly and provided equal opportunities for employment, advancement, compensation, training, and other benefits of employment. Embry-Riddle makes employment decisions — including hiring, promotions, compensation, and other terms of employment — based on individual merit, qualifications, and abilities. Embry-Riddle is strongly opposed to discrimination and harassment, and such behavior is prohibited by university policy. Embry-Riddle does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, veteran status, predisposing genetic characteristics, age, religion, or pregnancy status, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law, in its employment, educational programs, admissions policies, financial aid, or other school-administered programs or activities. For further information, please visit our website. 

Embry-Riddle does not accept unsolicited assistance from staffing or recruitment agencies. Agencies interested in partnering with the University should contact [email protected] and should not contact hiring managers or other University employees directly.  To preserve the integrity and authenticity of our hiring process, candidates are expected to participate without AI-assisted coaching, real-time response generation, or recording during interviews or assessments. Embry-Riddle does not use AI to automatically screen, rank, or select candidates.